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אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted
I just received an email informing me that my Amazon card was just charged $119.78, and asking me to confirm the charge.

I have NO knowledge of the charge, NONE WHATSOEVER, checked the Amazon website, and confirmed that my last order was for six and a half bucks, two weeks ago, looked like fraud, so I got on "chat" with Synchrony Bank -- they are the issuer of my Amazon card, and they sent me the warning email.

I asked what was ordered, and the name and shipping address on the order.

After being escalated to a manger, it turns out that the charge was for Prime membership renewal, but I had NO previous knowledge that the charge was going to be placed.

WTF, Amazon -- have you never heard of email? You just go ahead and charge a customer's account without informing him?



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Posts: 30536 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Recurring charge?

If you agreed to an automatic renewal, then they may not notify you upon renewal. The only contact would be you cancelling the membership.
 
Posts: 6650 | Registered: September 13, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Run Silent
Run Deep

Picture of Patriot
posted Hide Post
Well, look on the bright side, it wasn’t some dink in Panama buying a TV.


_____________________________
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Posts: 6978 | Location: South East, Pa | Registered: July 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
When you fall, I will be there to catch you -With love, the floor
posted Hide Post
quote:
WTF, Amazon -- have you never heard of email? You just go ahead and charge a customer's account without informing him?

Probably the same they of system used in Sirius. When you sign up it's in the very small print that you agree to a auto renewal at the end of the term. No warning, just a payment.

In there Terms of Membership...

quote:
UNLESS YOU NOTIFY US BEFORE A CHARGE THAT YOU WANT TO CANCEL OR DO NOT WANT TO AUTO RENEW, YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR PRIME MEMBERSHIP WILL AUTOMATICALLY CONTINUE AND YOU AUTHORIZE US (WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU, UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW) TO COLLECT THE THEN-APPLICABLE MEMBERSHIP FEE AND ANY TAXES, USING ANY ELIGIBLE PAYMENT METHOD WE HAVE ON RECORD FOR YOU.


Richard Scalzo
Epping, NH

http://www.bigeastakitarescue.net
 
Posts: 5803 | Location: Epping, NH | Registered: October 16, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
Yep. When you signed up for an annual Prime membership, you agreed to a recurring yearly charge until cancelled.
 
Posts: 32411 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep. When you signed up for an annual Prime membership, you agreed to a recurring yearly charge until cancelled.

Yup.

Though I thought they sent a heads up email a few days prior to the impending charge? Or maybe they used to and do not, anymore?



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 25994 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Void Where Prohibited
Picture of WaterburyBob
posted Hide Post
Unless they've stopped the notifications, I've always received an email from Amazon ahead of the renewal informing me that it would occur around a specified date.



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Posts: 16483 | Location: Under the Boot of Tyranny in Connectistan | Registered: February 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
"Without notice to you" is a crappy policy.

Amazon has my email address; they use it to send me junk mail at least once a day. How about sending an email with some useful information?

Restating the problem (maybe I did not state it clearly, as not one of the replies above this post addressed it):

  • I received an email from Synchrony Bank, the issuer of my Amazon Store card, stating that a charge in the amount of $119.78 had been placed on my account.

  • I had no knowledge of the charge, so I checked the Amazon website for recent orders. I found NOTHING in this amount, and no orders for the past two weeks.

    It would cost Amazon NOTHING (other than a small amount of bandwidth) to inform the customer that this charge had been placed. Or maybe show SOMETHING on the "recent orders" section of the website, where all other charges are shown, you know, the logical place to look if you are trying to identify a charge.

    The way the they are doing it now, there is nothing readily apparent to explain the charge. The key words in that sentence are "readily apparent."



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  •  
    Posts: 30536 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    אַרְיֵה
    Picture of V-Tail
    posted Hide Post
    Replying to ensigmatic and Waterbury Bob, the Amazon chat agent referred to an obscure setting, buried somewhere in the website, that would activate a heads-up email. Apparently, youse guys had it turned on and I did not.

    The agent told me that he turned it on for me, but I still have not found where it is.



    הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
     
    Posts: 30536 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Nullus Anxietas
    Picture of ensigmatic
    posted Hide Post
    The "funny" thing is: One's Prime membership charge doesn't show up in their "Your Orders" list, either, IIRC?

    Yeah, they don't handle this well, I agree.

    (We're not Primer members anymore, anyway.)



    "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
    "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
     
    Posts: 25994 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    אַרְיֵה
    Picture of V-Tail
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by ensigmatic:

    One's Prime membership charge doesn't show up in their "Your Orders" list, either, IIRC?
    You are correct. It does NOT appear on the Orders list.

    You really have to hunt for it, and that assumes that you know what you're looking for.

    In this case, I had no idea what I was looking for, other than an explanation for a charge of just under $120. If I had known that it was for membership renewal, that would have given me a clue where to look, but then again if I had known it was for membership renewal I would not have had to search for it. Catch 22.

    Now that it has been identified, I put it on my calendar, so next year should not be a surprise.



    הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
     
    Posts: 30536 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    I Deal In Lead
    Picture of Flash-LB
    posted Hide Post
    I've been an Amazon Prime member for years.

    They always notify me by email prior to renewing.

    Maybe your notification went to email hell, it sometimes happens.
     
    Posts: 10626 | Location: Gilbert Arizona | Registered: March 21, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Avoiding
    slam fires
    Picture of 45 Cal
    posted Hide Post
    They notified me way back in august ,
    Check you spam ,probably just an oversite on you Cool
     
    Posts: 22407 | Location: Georgia | Registered: February 19, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    אַרְיֵה
    Picture of V-Tail
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by 45 Cal:

    Check you spam
    Nope, nothing from Amazon in the spam bucket, but I never realized that there are so many hot women who want me to play Hide-The-Salami with them. I might have to reply to one of the pharmaceutical ads in order to take care of all those ladies. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.



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    Posts: 30536 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    member
    Picture of henryaz
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by V-Tail:
    Nope, nothing from Amazon in the spam bucket

    I've been a Prime member since its inception, and I've never received a heads up about the renewal charge. I always forget when its supposed to come and end up calling Amazon every year when it drops.



    When in doubt, mumble
     
    Posts: 10778 | Location: South Congress AZ | Registered: May 27, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    אַרְיֵה
    Picture of V-Tail
    posted Hide Post
    For those of youse who might want to receive a notification, follow this yellow brick road:

    amazon.com -> Accounts & Lists -> Prime -> Membership (Update, cancel and more)

    There is a checkbox labeled "Remind me before renewing." If checked, they claim that they will send an email three days prior to renewal.



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    Posts: 30536 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Dances With
    Tornados
    posted Hide Post
    When someone, or something entity, takes the action of hiding something...well you know.

    I had the same thing happen with my AAA membership. They automatically renewed it a full month before it expired. I didn't get any notification of such, nor ok it, and I certainly did not like it being done 30 days in advance of the expiration date.
    .
     
    Posts: 11810 | Registered: October 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    member
    Picture of henryaz
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by V-Tail:
    There is a checkbox labeled "Remind me before renewing." If checked, they claim that they will send an email three days prior to renewal.

    A bogus claim. I have had that box checked since forever, and never get a reminder.



    When in doubt, mumble
     
    Posts: 10778 | Location: South Congress AZ | Registered: May 27, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Member
    Picture of erj_pilot
    posted Hide Post
    You sure this wasn’t some Spam e-mail that just LOOKS like it’s from Amazon??



    "If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

    "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24
     
    Posts: 11048 | Location: NW Houston | Registered: April 04, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Member
    posted Hide Post
    I receive a heads-up 30 days prior. We'll see if it's different this year.
     
    Posts: 4979 | Registered: April 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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